


Incandescent

by purpleglasseswrites



Series: Leaflets in the Sun [3]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Vassa as Lucien's twin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:15:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29827587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpleglasseswrites/pseuds/purpleglasseswrites
Summary: Time is running out. The Deathless is waiting. His best friend is slipping between his fingers.Lucien Vanserra has stopped caring about what his eldest brother has to say a long time ago. And yet, the male's words keep ringing in his ear. Seek assistance in the Day Court...Eris Vanserra has stopped wishing for his brother's forgiveness. He doesn't deserve it. And yet, if he could bring some joy into Lucien's life—show him the way Home—he'd gladly do it.Vassa counts the nights. 6 months until her freedom is over. With every day she spends burning from within, more so the dreams come. If the way out means betraying her people, then so be it.A tale of three siblings. One Unloved. One Unworthy. One Unmade.High Lord. High Lady. High King.A rewrite and continuation of Leaflets in the Sun after ACOSF.
Relationships: Amren/Varian (ACoTaR), Azriel/Gwyneth Berdara, Elain Archeron/Lucien Vanserra, Emerie/Morrigan (ACoTaR), Eris Vanserra & Morrigan, Eris Vanserra/Original Male Character(s), Feyre Archeron/Rhysand, Helion/The Lady of the Autumn Court (ACoTaR), Nesta Archeron/Cassian, Tarquin/Vassa (ACoTaR)
Series: Leaflets in the Sun [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2078880
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Incandescent

Lucien squinted at the page he was reading, ignoring the clicking sound of his whirling metal eye. He scratched at his scars, turning the page after what felt like an eternity staring at the same cramped words. He tapped his foot on the wooden floor, his good eye moving faster on the page. He had to decide if this lead was worth pursuing or not...

"Would you _fucking stop_?"

Lucien jerked his head up. Vassa was glaring at him, dark brows furrowed. She dropped the pen she'd been scribbling with and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him expectedly.

His right foot froze midair, before resuming its light tapping. The woman standing across from him groaned. "Like you don't slam things around every time they prove to be useless."

"I slam things around to cover _that_ ," Vassa said, waving her hand to the upper level of the study, where Jurian lay sprawled in an armchair, humming to himself as he nursed a half-empty bottle of wine. The occasional lyrics spurred from his mouth, so out of tune that Lucien contemplated ripping his ears off.

"And I tap my foot to cover _your_ slamming." Vassa huffed before shutting the book she’d been studying and slamming it on their shared desk so hard her notes scattered.

Lucien shook his head as she rose to her feet and began sorting through her papers. From the way she was stacking things atop each other without a second glance, Lucien wondered if she was helping the situation at all.

"Oh, 'm gonna find me a han'some boatman, to ferr' me over to my luv 'n die!" Jurian's belt on that last note had Lucien cover his ears, hands digging into his scalp.

Vassa whirled around, papers forgotten as she beheld the former general. "If you don't shut up right the fuck now, Jurian —"

Whatever reply the general could stammer died in his throat as three quick knocks echoed out into the manor. Lucien shot to his feet, nostrils flared. He pushed through the stinging smell of alcohol and the sharpness of metal as Vassa drew two daggers, blue eyes fixed on the study's double doors.

The smell of chestnuts and burned wood hit him at once, knees buckling as thoughts of _Home_ filled his mind. And yet, there was an edge to that sweetness, something damp and pungent – the smell of wet dog. "It's Eris," Lucien said, his brows furrowing as he aimed for the study doors.

"Again?" Vassa asked, not letting go of the daggers as she made to follow him. A loud thump had both of them stop in their tracks. Lucien glanced to the spiralling stairs of the study, where Jurian lay on his ass, eyes wide as he stared down at the remaining steps.

"Make sure he doesn't break his neck," Lucien said to Vassa, ignoring her curses as he stepped into the dark hallway to greet his brother.

* * *

"You were _at_ _the lake_?" The human queen gaped at him. Eris might have enjoyed the way she was drinking in every word out of his mouth if it weren't for those unnatural eyes bearing into his own.

He glanced around the manor's study. They were sitting at a long mahogany desk, books and papers almost covering the entire surface. There was a spiral staircase leading to a sitting area and pink curtains blocking out any starlight visible in the night. Lucien was sitting across from him, fingers tapping on a piece of paper as he glanced between the pacing queen and the man passed out in a chair at the far end of the desk.

Eris picked up one of the open books and flicked through. "Does Tamlin know you've been stealing from his library, little brother?"

Lucien stiffened. "She asked you a fucking question."

Eris sighed, dropping the book and turning to the mortal woman. He ignored the way his hands twitched as he met her eyes. Too blue. They were as deep and blue as a storming sea, and Eris had the feeling he might drown in them if he stared too long. "He said he's waiting for you."

Something eased in his chest as the woman shuddered, backing away from him and resuming her pacing across the room. "And Briallyn?"

Eris hissed at the crone's name, barring his teeth as he said to the back of Vassa’s head, "Very, very dead. Nesta Archeron Unmade her, or so the brute told me."

"Shouldn't that have made her human again? Not kill her?" Lucien asked, rubbing at the back of his neck as he leaned back in his chair.

Eris paused, weighting the brute's words again. "Perhaps," he mused, "Intent matters. I am not entirely sure how that silver flame works."

His brother only hummed in response and Eris glanced at the mess scattered across the desk again. Volume upon volume on spellwork and warding, passages on breaking through barriers copied in Lucien's neat handwriting—

Eris blinked, the whirling of his brother’s metal eye snapping him out of his stupor. "Are you trying _to break_ her curse?"

Lucien's head whipped towards him, russet eye darkening. "So what if I am?"

Eris stilled. He remembered sitting in this same manor just months ago, Cassian losing his temper at the mere mention of Briallyn 's name. His brother's words rang in his ears now. _Easy. Easy._ The sheer dominance in that one word, knocking the brute out of his killing spree as fast as he'd entered it—

Eris wondered if he'd lost his mind as the words left his mouth before the thought was fully formed. "I think you should seek assistance in the Day Court."

Lucien sighed, rubbing his forehead. Eris frowned. _Cauldron be damned, why wouldn_ ' _t he want to go to—_

"Absolutely not," the human queen spat, blue eyes blazing as she stalked towards them.

"Why the fuck not?" Eris asked, curling his lips as the woman came to a halt in front of him, fists clenched at her sides. She glared at him, and despite those roaring waves that threatened to sink him in, Eris glared back.

"Because she's a superstitious nut case, that's why," Lucien snapped, his hand dropping from his face with a thud on the wooden desk.

Vassa gritted her teeth, chin held high as she and his brother stared each other down. Of course Lucien had already figured out what the fastest way to solve this was. And yet—

Eris cleared his throat, drawing the queen's attention back to him. "Explain," he said, willing his body to remain still as the woman's nostrils flared.

"There is…history between my people and the Daylighters," she said, at last, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked down at him.

Eris resisted the urge to gape at her. _Mother spare them._ "So you would rather remain cursed than ask the one person who may know of a way out because of — _tradition_?"

" _He_ doesn't know shit," Vassa said, her voice high enough that the human general shook from his slumber.

Eris rose to his feet, brushing past the mortal queen without sparing her a second glance. He stopped next to Lucien's chair and nodded his head. "I pray to the Mother you won't be driven insane by the time her time is up, brother."

He ignored the woman's huffs and Lucien's muttered curses as he aimed for the exit of the study. The general rose on shaky feet and Eris wrinkled his nose at the stinging smell of alcohol that rose from the man.

Jurian's mouth spread into a wide grin as Eris passed him by. "Look V," he shouted. "My han'some boatman 'as arrived!"

Eris whirled towards the man, who had his arms wide open as he stepped forward. The human queen giggled, and Eris eyed his brother as Jurian made to wrap his arms around him. And stumbled upon a pile of books stacked on the floor.

If his feet weren't still sluggish from having his nails ripped off, he would have dodged the falling body in a blink. Jurian collided with him and then Eris was falling, back hitting the hard floor before heavy hands pushed into his chest, his bruised ribs protesting as the human male fell atop him. High pitched laughter burst through the room. Eris was going to split this man's throat. He was going to _—_

Jurian made to jump to his feet, eyes wide, hands shaking _—_ and stepped right on Eris's right foot.

The scream tore through him, pain clouding his vision, the darkness sending his mind spiralling back to his chambers at the Forest House, his father towering over him, claws digging into his skin, burning poker too damn close _—_

A gentle hand grasped his shoulder. Eris blinked. He wasn't in that Cauldron damned House but the pink-curtained study of his brother's manor. It wasn't Beron leaning over him, but Lucien, his russet eye wide, mouth open as his brother muttered his name. Lucien looked so much like their mother at that moment that Eris had to tear his gaze away. He couldn't break down in front of Lucien as he'd done in front of Mother. Not after what he'd allowed his brother to endure. Not with the two humans gawking at him.

The human queen's hands were covering her mouth, and she was refusing to meet his eyes as he turned towards them. And to the man cowering behind her, face white, eyes staring into the distance as if he was reliving some horrors of his own.

"Koschei?" Lucien asked quietly, hand still resting on Eris's shoulder. "Or _—_ "

Eris pulled away too fast. For in the jerking of his arm, the trembling of his hands as he steadied himself on the floor, Lucien read the truth. And Eris had to restrain himself from gagging at the way his brother's face softened.

"I don’t want your pity," he spat as he rose to his feet. He had to get out of here _—_ away from this kindness he didn’t deserve, away from those gaping mortals _—_

"I have a friend in the Dawn Court who could _—_ "

"Or your help," Eris forced himself to ignore the hurt look that passed Lucien's face. Instead, he took one last look around the study, bearing his teeth at the general.

"Get some fucking wards around this place," he growled as heat began to flow through him. "You're practically begging for an ambush."

And then he winnowed away.

* * *

Lucien grasped the leather armrest, working over the last few minutes in his head. What the bloody Cauldron could he have said to make Feyre and Rhysand gawk at him like that? He sunk into the chair, scratching at his scars.

"What?" he finally asked, eyebrows raised. He hated knowing they were talking about him, judging him, and yet he was able to do nothing at all to defend himself.

Rhysand cleared his throat, consternation swiftly replaced by the cold mask of the High Lord of the Night Court. "Just making living arrangements," he waved his hand dismissively, and Lucien frowned. "Helion confided in me that there is some _—_ tension in his court. I think it's much better if you two had these meetings here _—_ in the Night Court."

"Living arrangements?" Lucien echoed, suddenly regretting not calling in his deal with Dennis Zana. The eccentric winter suddenly seemed easier to deal with.

"Of course," Rhys said. "You'd meet at the House of Wind, and rest and eat there should you need _—_ "

"With _Nesta_ there?" He should have gone to Zana. Fuck that, he could still contact the courtier _—_

"Nesta's a sweetheart," Rhysand dismissed him again, nodding to himself as he began writing what Lucien could only assume was a message to Helion. Feyre was frowning at her mate.

"Has he been like this since _—_?" Feyre began nodding before Lucien could finish his question.

"I'll have you know parenthood is a wonderful and eye-opening experience," Rhysand said, eyes going over the letter in his hands. "You should try it sometimes, although in your case I would suggest waiting until _—_ "

An embroidered pillow flew straight at the High Lord's head. But Lucien had already grasped the meaning. His neck heated, and he kept his eyes on the floor as he rose to his feet. "Eye-opening indeed," he muttered as he aimed for the door.

"That's not what I meant _—_ " Rhysand seemed to have won the battle with the pillow, but Lucien was not in the mood to hear how he should get over Elain and their bond.

"Just get this settled already," Lucien said, not looking at the High Lord and Lady. "We're running out of time."

Gritting his teeth, he passed walls decked with Feyre's paintings, yearning to step into the sunlight, away from the river house so he could winnow home. _Home_. To a queen whose days were numbered and a general whose nightmares kept them all awake at night. At least _they_ didn't tell him to get over _her_ , at least they didn't talk about him as if he weren’t in the room, at least _—_

Lucien stepped onto the streets of Velaris and came face to face with his mate.

Elain started as he blocked her path. Her face flushed, looking away, and Lucien almost winnowed away right then and there. His eye caught something white shimmering in the sunlight. Pearls. She was wearing the pearl earrings he'd gifted her.

Elain's blush deepened, and she gestured wordlessly to the house. Lucien blinked and stepped aside, letting her pass by. He stared after her as she went inside, wondering if he'd imagined it all.

**Author's Note:**

> The song Jurian sings is the Irish ballad Carrickfergus.


End file.
